Over 81% voter turnout in phase 1 of panchayat polls in 9 Hry dists

Chandigarh: Amid stray incidents of violence and disruption in voting in Nuh, Jhajjar and Bhiwani districts and boycott by residents of a Mahendergarh village, 81.6% voters in nine districts of Haryana came out to elect sarpanchs and panchs on Wednesday.
The polling was held for electing 2,607 sarpanchs and 25,968 panchs in Bhiwani, Jhajjar, Jind, Kaithal, Mahendragarh, Nuh, Panchkula, Panipat and Yamunanagar districts during the second part of the phase first of the panchayat elections.
As per information, of the total 49,67,092 voters, 39,82,870 exercised their right to franchise. Yamunanagar topped the list with 87.4% voting, closely followed by Panchkula at 86.7%.
Voting for the election of sarpanchs was done through electronic voting machines (EVMs), while voting for election of panchs was done through ballot papers. Around 18,000 ballot boxes were sent to the polling booths.
Yamunanagar and Panchkula were followed by Panipat, Nuh, Mahendergarh and Jind – the voting in all these districts crossed the 80% mark. Voter turnout in Kaithal, Bhiwani and Jhajjar districts remained below 80%. The counting for votes was going on at the time of filing of this report.
Haryana state election commissioner Dhanpat Singh admitted that voting was disrupted at a few places due to clashes between the rival groups. “The incident count was almost negligible, if you compare it with the last elections. Rest, we are taking reports from district election officers for the further course of action,” he said.
The first incident was reported from Chandaka village of Nuh. Some policemen were also injured as two rival groups clashed during the election for the post of sarpanch. There were also reports of some rounds being fired during the election. However, officials said police teams from Punhana police station were investigating the matter.
Some minor incidents were also reported from three other villages, confirmed the police. In Jhajjar district, two groups clashed in Zahadpur village during the mock drill ahead of the voting. They not only attacked the election agent, but also vandalised the booth. Deputy commissioner Shakti Singh and superintendent of police Wasim Akram rushed to the spot and took stock of the situation. A case has also been registered against more than 20 persons.
In Mahendergarh district, residents boycotted the polling at Khatondra village. They were protesting against the alleged police inaction in the mysterious death of Harpal, a candidate for the post of sarpanch.
The polling for zila parishad elections in these nine districts was held on October 30. The results for zila parishad and block samiti elections will be declared on November 27.